A judge says customers of a Grey Lynn burger restaurant would have been appalled at the state of the business after its kitchen was revealed to be riddled with roaches.
Burger Geek was fined $24,000 at the company’s sentencing in the Auckland District Court this week after pleading guilty to a charge of breaching the Food Act following a damning inspection in 2022.
The company’s director says the result of the inspection was an isolated issue that arose when its Grey Lynn store was operating with less experienced staff in the wake of Covid restrictions. All staff have been retrained, he said.
Judge Nevin Dawson did not mince words when describing what an Auckland Council inspector found, including cockroaches on food preparation areas and inside a fridge.
“This is simply unacceptable to the community,” Judge Dawson said.
“Purchasers of food and beverages would be appalled and concerned if they’d known the state of the business. Members of the public in my view were at serious risk of harm.”
Burger Geek, specialising in gourmet smash burgers, also has branches in Eden Terrace and Birkenhead, but the prosecution related solely to the inspection of the Grey Lynn outlet in 2022.
All three branches now have food grade ratings of A.
Burger Geek director Peter Barton, in a statement supplied via his lawyer, said there had been no further incidents since the store reopened after it was closed briefly following the inspection.
“This was an isolated issue that occurred near-on two years ago at the Grey Lynn store in the aftermath of Covid restrictions, when we were operating with a less experienced team,” Barton said.
“We have since retrained all of our staff and reorganised our management, and are fully compliant with our food control plan.”
Barton said they regretted what happened and had co-operated with the council.
Burger Geek initially entered a not guilty plea, but then admitted one charge of failing to carry out its duty to ensure its operations complied with the obligations of a Food Control Plan.
Auckland Council lawyer Chelsea Lloydd said Burger Geek breached its obligations in two ways, by the significant cockroach infestation and through its poor cleaning practices, resulting in a significant build-up of grease and dirt.
The inspector’s findings indicated the kitchen had not been cleaned for some time, perpetuating the infestation of roaches, which were harbouring in cracks in the floor and in food preparation areas, she said.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of $200,000.
Lloydd sought a starting point of $45,000, arguing the offending was of moderate seriousness, and said the final fine after discounts for the guilty plea and the company’s previous good record should be no less than a shade over $24,000.
Burger Geek’s lawyer, Kristin Wilson, argued there was no basis for a fine any higher than that recently faced by Chandu’s Corner, an Indian restaurant in Ōtāhuhu.
It was fined $19,000 after pleading guilty to the same charge in the Manukau District Court on May 9.
Wilson said Burger Geek was remorseful and had co-operated with the council.
Judge Dawson, summarising the offending to which Burger Geek admitted, said the inspector had found a “significant infestation” including cockroaches in all stages of their life cycle.
There were dead cockroaches in a drink fridge, and dead and live cockroaches on food preparation areas. The insects were also found on a kitchen wall, near a dishwasher and under fridges.
Less than an hour after visiting the business that afternoon in late December, the inspector gave a notice ordering it to close.
The council later issued an improvement notice requiring additional cleaning and staff to be retrained.
Judge Dawson said he found the offending to be of moderate gravity, and the only aggravating factor was the abuse of trust placed by customers in the business.
He applied a discount of 20% for the guilty plea, which did not come at the earliest possible opportunity, and 10% apiece for the previous good character and the company’s co-operation, resulting in a final fine of $24,000.
The company was allowed to pay the fine in $1000 monthly instalments, with 90% of the amount to go to Auckland Council.
“It should have been obvious to the persons working there that the level of cockroach infestation was very unacceptable,” Judge Dawson said.
George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.